At a Sunday rally in the Bronx where
New York state Senator Ruben Diaz Sr., an ardent opponent of gay
marriage, had gathered his supporters to oppose an effort to make New
York the sixth state to legalize gay marriage, the Pentecostal
minister hugged his lesbian granddaughter and told the crowd that he
loved her.
As the senator addressed the crowd,
Erica Diaz, 22, left a nearby counter protest to interrupt her
grandfather. She later said she wanted the crowd to know whom they
were opposing.
Ms. Diaz told
the New York Daily News that she was booted out of the
Navy for violating the military's policy against openly gay troops,
known as “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” and wanted to marry her
girlfriend of two years, 27-year-old Naomi Torres, with whom she
attended the counter protest.
“This is my granddaughter,” Mr.
Diaz told the crowd as he drew her in for a hug. “I love her. I
love her. I love her. I respect her decisions. She does what she
wants.”
“If you think that in our family,
there is hatred, and there is no love, you are wrong,” he added to
cheers from the crowd estimated in the thousands. “Because I love
my granddaughter.”
However, in comments to the paper, Mr.
Diaz said he would not be present to witness his granddaughter tie
the knot.
“I would not go the wedding,” he
said. “But I would respect her decision.”
Ms. Diaz said she respected the
senator, who also has 2 gay brothers, but added that his disapproval
hurt.
“He's not homophobic. He's just
against us getting married,” she said. “I respect that he's firm
on what he believes in, but it bothers me. It hurts.”